Monday, January 27, 2014

Brief Thoughts on the Grammy Awards

Thoughts on the Grammy Awards:
1. I never actually watch the Grammys, I just read the list of winners later.
2. The "major" categories like "Record of the Year" are entirely meaningless, for a number of reasons I won't go into here.
3. Steve Martin was famous first for being an actor, but he is actually a very good banjo player.
4. For some reason I can't explain, I'm happy to see Daft Punk win.
5. Who the heck are Imagine Dragons?
6. I realized that by making this list, I'm probably coming off as a total music snob.
7. Does anyone else think it's weird that Led Zeppelin can win "Best Rock Album" for a live album that contains no material that was written after 1976?
8. What exactly is the definition of "World Music"? Isn't kind of insulting to group all music from the rest of the world into an "other" category, and compeltely disregard distinct cultural and musical traditions?
9. Colbert wins "Best Spoken Word Album" like a boss, though I have to say, it's never been clear to me the criteria by which this category is judged.
10. I have to admit, "Skyfall" is a cool song and Adele nails it.
11. Wayne Shorter will always be awesome.
12. Tõnu Kaljuste wins a well-deserved Grammy for his recording of Arvo Pärt's "Adam's Lament."
13. I really need to check out the Maria Schneider composition "Winter Morning Walks" that won a Grammy tonight.
14. I haven't heard of most of the people who won Grammys, and the fault is mine. Even though I make this annoying list, I don't actually know anything about this stuff.